Washington state Attorney General Bob Ferguson wants to help take a bite out of Apple’s dominance in the smartphone market, joining 20 other attorneys general Tuesday in the U.S. Department of Justice’s antitrust lawsuit against the iPhone maker.
- Originally filed in March, the federal suit claims Apple has unlawful monopoly power when it comes to smartphone use, dictating “how users, developers and businesses can use the iPhone, stifling innovation and keeping prices artificially high.”
- Beyond the purchase of an iPhone, Apple’s alleged monopoly harms users in a variety of ways, according to the suit, including denying users the ability to choose what banking apps to use as their digital wallet and prohibiting the creation of alternative app stores.
- The states and DOJ are asking the court to order Apple to stop undermining technologies that compete with its own apps — in areas including streaming, messaging and digital payments.
- Previously: The suit also cites as evidence the inability of many other tech giants, including Microsoft and Amazon, to compete against Apple in smartphones.
